Police: Missing Bellevue boy's mother had not run out of gas
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BELLEVUE, Wash. -- The mother of a missing Bellevue boy had not run out of gas on the day the toddler disappeared as she has claimed, police said.
Bellevue Police Maj. Mike Johnson said Julia Biryukova had enough gas in her fuel tank "to travel a considerable distance." Investigators planned to test-drive the vehicle on Thursday to determine whether any mechanical issues would have caused it to stall.
Biryukova had told investigators that her 2-year-old son, Sky Metalwala, vanished Sunday in Bellevue when she left him sleeping alone in her unlocked car for an hour after it ran out of gas. She and her 4-year-old daughter walked to get gas, she claimed, and when they returned an hour later, the boy was gone.
Earlier, Johnson said that Biryukova claimed she was taking the boy to a hospital because he didn't feel well, even though she left her purse, wallet and identification at home. It wasn't clear how she expected to get gas for the car or have her son treated without the items, he said.
Police believe Biryukova or someone close to her knows the toddler's fate, but no one is speaking up, even as hope for finding him alive fades.
"The public, I'm sure, is as frustrated as we are in the fact that mom isn't willing to come in and provide a polygraph," Johnson said. "To be quite honest, that looks suspicious and we're puzzled by that."
But Johnson added Biryukova has been willing to aid investigators in other ways, including allowing them to search her home.
"I would categorize her level of cooperation - albeit a little disjointed, a little segregated - to be high," he said.
When asked whether police were aware of the rumored similarities of the case to an episode of "Law and Order" that aired the day before the boy disappeared, Johnson said investigators have been told as much, but have not seen the episode.
Investigators said Biryukova led a reclusive life, and no one had seen the missing boy or his sister for several weeks prior to the boy's disappearance.
Meantime, the missing boy's older sister remains in protective custody. The girl's father sought to gain custody of the girl; however, a judge denied his request and only allowed him to have limited supervised visits with his daughter.
The missing boy's father, Solomon Metalwala, took a polygraph test on Monday night, but the results were ruled inconclusive. He has agreed to take another polygraph test, and this second test will be conducted by the FBI, according to a police source.
Sky's disappearance came amid a bitter divorce and custody fight between Biryukova and the boy's father. During a tough mediation session that lasted about 12 hours last week, the parties reached a tentative agreement that would allow Metalwala to have some visitation with Sky and his older sister.
But two days later - and two days before she reported her son missing - Biryukova decided to pull out of the agreement, Metalwala's divorce attorney, D. Michael Tomkins, said Wednesday. In a letter sent by her attorney, Biryukova insisted that everyone at the mediation session had been against her and the settlement was unfair, Tomkins said.
The children did not attend the marathon session, and it's possible they were left home alone for the entire time, raising the possibility that Sky could have become dehydrated, Tomkins said.
Papers filed in the divorce say that Biryukova suffered from "severe" obsessive-compulsive disorder. Metalwala wrote in a declaration that she would frequently go on 10-hour cleaning binges during which she wouldn't even feed the children, but a doctor reported that her diagnosis did not interfere with her ability to care for the kids.
Johnson said Biryukova acknowledged having a history of leaving the children home alone for extended periods of time. Police know whether she did so during the lengthy mediation, but they won't release that information, Johnson said.
Investigators on Wednesday were focusing on processing the car for forensic evidence and to determine whether it really ran out of gas or had other mechanical problems. They also were giving voluntary polygraph exams to the boy's father and several of his relatives and taking DNA samples to match with DNA evidence found at Biryukova's apartment.
If Sky was in fact left in the car, it wouldn't have been the first time.
When he was 3 months old, his parents left him in their SUV in a Target parking lot for 55 minutes on a 27-degree day, court records showed. The couple came out of the store to get Sky only after police arrived and asked for the vehicle's owner to be paged.
Redmond police cited both parents for reckless endangerment in the December 2009 incident. However, the case was dismissed early this year after the pair completed a year of probation, 40 hours of community service and a 10-week parenting class.
A $1,000 reward is being offered in the case. Anyone with any information regarding the disappearance of Sky Metalwala should contact the Bellevue Police Department at (425) 452-2546 or through their e-mail tipline at pdtipline@bellevuewa.gov.
Bellevue Police Maj. Mike Johnson said Julia Biryukova had enough gas in her fuel tank "to travel a considerable distance." Investigators planned to test-drive the vehicle on Thursday to determine whether any mechanical issues would have caused it to stall.
Biryukova had told investigators that her 2-year-old son, Sky Metalwala, vanished Sunday in Bellevue when she left him sleeping alone in her unlocked car for an hour after it ran out of gas. She and her 4-year-old daughter walked to get gas, she claimed, and when they returned an hour later, the boy was gone.
Earlier, Johnson said that Biryukova claimed she was taking the boy to a hospital because he didn't feel well, even though she left her purse, wallet and identification at home. It wasn't clear how she expected to get gas for the car or have her son treated without the items, he said.
Police believe Biryukova or someone close to her knows the toddler's fate, but no one is speaking up, even as hope for finding him alive fades.
"The public, I'm sure, is as frustrated as we are in the fact that mom isn't willing to come in and provide a polygraph," Johnson said. "To be quite honest, that looks suspicious and we're puzzled by that."
But Johnson added Biryukova has been willing to aid investigators in other ways, including allowing them to search her home.
"I would categorize her level of cooperation - albeit a little disjointed, a little segregated - to be high," he said.
When asked whether police were aware of the rumored similarities of the case to an episode of "Law and Order" that aired the day before the boy disappeared, Johnson said investigators have been told as much, but have not seen the episode.
Investigators said Biryukova led a reclusive life, and no one had seen the missing boy or his sister for several weeks prior to the boy's disappearance.
Meantime, the missing boy's older sister remains in protective custody. The girl's father sought to gain custody of the girl; however, a judge denied his request and only allowed him to have limited supervised visits with his daughter.
The missing boy's father, Solomon Metalwala, took a polygraph test on Monday night, but the results were ruled inconclusive. He has agreed to take another polygraph test, and this second test will be conducted by the FBI, according to a police source.
Sky's disappearance came amid a bitter divorce and custody fight between Biryukova and the boy's father. During a tough mediation session that lasted about 12 hours last week, the parties reached a tentative agreement that would allow Metalwala to have some visitation with Sky and his older sister.
But two days later - and two days before she reported her son missing - Biryukova decided to pull out of the agreement, Metalwala's divorce attorney, D. Michael Tomkins, said Wednesday. In a letter sent by her attorney, Biryukova insisted that everyone at the mediation session had been against her and the settlement was unfair, Tomkins said.
The children did not attend the marathon session, and it's possible they were left home alone for the entire time, raising the possibility that Sky could have become dehydrated, Tomkins said.
Papers filed in the divorce say that Biryukova suffered from "severe" obsessive-compulsive disorder. Metalwala wrote in a declaration that she would frequently go on 10-hour cleaning binges during which she wouldn't even feed the children, but a doctor reported that her diagnosis did not interfere with her ability to care for the kids.
Johnson said Biryukova acknowledged having a history of leaving the children home alone for extended periods of time. Police know whether she did so during the lengthy mediation, but they won't release that information, Johnson said.
Investigators on Wednesday were focusing on processing the car for forensic evidence and to determine whether it really ran out of gas or had other mechanical problems. They also were giving voluntary polygraph exams to the boy's father and several of his relatives and taking DNA samples to match with DNA evidence found at Biryukova's apartment.
If Sky was in fact left in the car, it wouldn't have been the first time.
When he was 3 months old, his parents left him in their SUV in a Target parking lot for 55 minutes on a 27-degree day, court records showed. The couple came out of the store to get Sky only after police arrived and asked for the vehicle's owner to be paged.
Redmond police cited both parents for reckless endangerment in the December 2009 incident. However, the case was dismissed early this year after the pair completed a year of probation, 40 hours of community service and a 10-week parenting class.
A $1,000 reward is being offered in the case. Anyone with any information regarding the disappearance of Sky Metalwala should contact the Bellevue Police Department at (425) 452-2546 or through their e-mail tipline at pdtipline@bellevuewa.gov.
